Editor's Note ECRI has named cybersecurity attacks as the number one health technology hazard for 2022. In its report, ECRI notes that all healthcare organizations are subject to cybersecurity attacks, and that the question is not whether they will be attacked but when. A cybersecurity attack could threaten medical devices…

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Editor's Note This study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds disparate monoclonal antibody (mAb) treatment of COVID-19 in Hispanic, Black, Asian, and Other race patients, compared to non-Hispanic and White patients. Differences in treatment with dexamethasone and remdesivir were less apparent. Analyzing data from 41 healthcare…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 6 identified the recall by Medtronic of its Stealth Station System with Synergy Cranial and StealthStation S7 Cranial Software as Class I, the most serious. The System aids in precisely locating anatomical structures in neurosurgical procedures. The recall was initiated…

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Editor's Note This study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia, finds that social and physical features of the environment impact the survival of injured Black men. Analyzing interviews of 43 injured Black men in a northeastern city identified four themes: Challenges to recovery—feeling uprooted because of having…

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Editor's Note The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has honored a request by N95 respirator mask manufacturer, ALG Health (Bryan, Ohio), to rescind all respirator approvals issued to ALG Health, effective immediately. As of January 6, any of the following ALG Health N95 respirators marked with a…

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Editor's Note In this study from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, researchers find a roughly tenfold increase in opioid deaths in adults 55 years and older, driven primarily by overdoses in Black men. Analyzing data on 79,893 individuals aged 55 years and older who died from opioid overdose…

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Editor's Note This study led by researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, finds that major elective surgery performed 0 to 4 weeks after COVID-19 infection is linked to an increased risk of postoperative complications. Of 5,479 patients analyzed, those who had surgery 0 to 4…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on January 10, identified the recall of Cardiovascular Systems’ WIRION Embolic Protection Device as Class I, the most serious. The device, which is used to hold or remove debris or blood clots from the lower limbs, was recalled because of complaints of…

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Editor's Note Maryland Gov Larry Hogan on January 4, 2022, signed an executive order authorizing the secretary of the Maryland Department of Health to regulate hospital personnel, bed space, and supplies. A second order authorizes additional steps to further increase the state’s emergency medical services workforce, the January 5 Becker’s…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced January 5, 2022, that, effective immediately, all disease-specific care (DSC) on-site reviews will implement a portion of the off-site review process developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The off-site review process required organizations to upload documentation before the scheduled review, which organizations told…

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